City of Basketball Love

By CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The 2025 edition of the Philly Girls’ High School live event was a major step forward over last year’s inaugural edition, with more than 40 high school teams — including several dozen featuring at least one Division I prospect — making their way to Jefferson University from Thursday through Saturday for three days of high-level hoops in front of college coaches of all levels.

CoBL had numerous reporters checking in over the course of the event, watching as many of the games as we could. Here’s the first of two notebooks from the event focused on area teams and their progress this offseason:

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Philly HS Girls Live Coverage
Standouts (A-L) | Standouts (M-Z)
Recruiting Notebook Pt. 1 | Pt 2. | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4
Team Coverage Pt. 1 | Pt. 2

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Great Valley 

Great Valley’s overall team chemistry was on display on Thursday night in a 20-point win over Delcastle (Del.). The Patriots, playing a dozen different girls, saw nine enter the scoring column — and even more impressively, had nine different players collect at least one assist as they combined for 15 dimes on 20 made shots. 

Rising junior guard Maddie Walsh said it felt like the group was playing with a different energy from a year ago.

“We’re hyping each other up and even if one of us misses, we’re telling each other to keep on going,” she said. “I think that’s making us more confident, taking it to the hole, making better passes and making better shots. It’s making all of us more confident, making us better.”

Walsh is one of four returning starters for head coach  Todd Frederick, who guided the Patriots to a 13-10 win a year ago, and a loss in the first round of the Ches-Mont playoffs; the No. 27 seed in District 1 6A, they fell a few spots shy of qualifying for districts. 

The rising junior class is the core of the group, with Walsh and  Kate Weikert on the wings along with classmate Lauren Chain, another returning starter. Charlie Person, a deeper reserve a year ago whose brother Henry had a big senior year for the GV boys, was impressive against Delcastle with 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists. 

Rounding out the starting lineup were a pair of seniors,  Reilly Lackman and Damaris Jones, both of whom contributed a variety of stats to Thursday’s win. Further depth came from rising sophomore guards Aniya Hardikar and Saanvi Katkur, both of whom showed the ability to hit a shot and make a good pass when called upon. 

Weikert, a 5-9 guard, matched Person with 10 points of her own, getting a few open layups thanks to her teammates’ strong passing while creating a couple buckets on the drive. A third-year starter who plays downhill with intensity, she’s hearing from numerous area Division III programs, mentioning Eastern University as one; Eastern head coach  Sarah Fowler was watching their game Thursday night. 

“I’m definitely working on slowing down, taking a bigger leadership role,” she said. “My freshman year we had a point guard that was good, Julia Curran, and she definitely helped me ease myself into it. This year I’m going to be the person that helps everyone, and we also have multiple other people that can.”

Weikert and Walsh both said the goals remain the same: make a run at Ches-Monts, qualify for districts, and attempt to make a run at states. The Ches-Mont won’t be easy, with both Downingtown East and Downingtown West returning strong squads, but the Patriots will be another year older, another year more battle-tested. 

“Last year, we had a conversation about districts and maybe Ches-Mont champs, “ Weikert said. “This year, we’re making it to Ches-Monts and we’re going to go far and we want to win it, and get into districts and go far [...] our rebuilding years were prior, so now we’re here and we’re ready to win.” — Josh Verlin

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Chester

It’s been a long, long time since Chester girls qualified for the PIAA state playoffs. It actually goes back long before any current member of the Clippers were born—to 2000, when Chester won a first round Class 4A game (under the old PIAA 4A system) over Reading, 56-47.

This past season, the Clippers broke one longtime barrier, winning a PIAA District 1 playoff game, something the program had not achieved since the 2008-09 season. This season, the Clippers feel they can take things further with the core group returning, coming off a 19-6 record and their third-straight Del-Val League title.

Coach Marvin Dukes will be entering his fifth season as head coach, and he returns a solid nucleus of 5-foot-6 senior guards Imani Dorsey and Jordan Dennis and 6-foot senior center Zayana Vann. Chester won with pressure defense, and with the addition of freshmen Ahmyah Naylor, Nia Butler and Cayla Gaines, the Clippers will have more depth and more ways to come at opponents in waves.

Chester lost to Downingtown East (57-44) in the second round of the PIAA District 1 Class 6A playoffs, and then lost to Spring-Ford (51-43) in the district playback round.

On Saturday at Philly Girls High School Live event at Jefferson, the Clippers beat West Philly (46-21) and a quality Shawnee team (39-35).

Dorsey and Dennis will have to make up for the scoring of graduating senior Ja’Mya Muhammad. They feel it’s a void they can fill. And they are aware of the history they are looking to break.

“I know it’s been around 2000 since Chester has been to states, and I think we can break that streak this season,” Dennis said. “We have a deeper team. The losses we had were close games. We’re more experienced from the playoff games. We have all played with each other since grade school. I will need to score more, but we have a lot of girls on this team that can score and handle the ball. I know I will need to take more shots. But I think we get to states this year. I think we have the team to do it.”

Much will depend on Vann.

She knows it.

“We have the team that could do good things this year,” Vann said. “This is my last year of high school and it’s my time to step it up.”

Dorsey is coming off a junior season in which she averaged 15.5 points a game and, so far, has not received any college offers.

That should change.

“I’ll need to score more, and I think based on how we’re playing this summer, we can be good,” Dorsey said. “We can go 9, 10 deep. I think some teams know about us, and some teams will try and test us. I do think we have gained more respect in the area. We are going to face everyone’s best game in the (Del-Val). We do have a bigger picture ahead. We’ll win by pressuring teams and we have 10 girls who can run our press.”

That will fall back to freshmen like Naylor.

She showed a good handle, and with more varsity experience, she will be a factor this coming season.

“I’m ready,” Naylor said. “I want to be more consistent controlling the game. It’s good to have the trust of everyone. We have five, six girls who can handle the ball and I think I’m ready for what’s ahead.”

What’s ahead could be a Chester team that hangs around the top of the District 1 Class 6A standings and earns a PIAA 6A state playoff berth. — Joseph Santoliquito

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Bensalem

Bensalem coach Steve Johnson has had to replace some big pieces during his first five seasons at the helm of the Owls girls basketball program. Most recently, Johnson and his team put together a 12-10 campaign in 2024-25 after graduating Division I forward Amber Howard, who is now at the University of Buffalo.

After a boatload of production will be gone from the 2025 class, Johnson said this year the challenge will be even more difficult.

“We’ve got a lot of younger kids,” Johnson said. “I’ve been coaching 5, 6 years and every year we’re at least bringing like two or three pieces back. This year is something that I’ve never done before. It’s essentially a new team. … It’ll definitely be a test, but I think we have some really good kids and we can get some good work in this summer and see what happens.

First team all-league guard Talia DiMichele and all-league honorable mention selection Devon Bell are two of the holes Johnson has to replace in the lineup. 

The Owls do have three seniors in Grace McShane, Mary Beck, and Gianna Creque that will have to lead the way. McShane, a 5-10 guard, looks ready to try and carry this group along for the time being.

She tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in a tight defeat to York High on Saturday.

“We relied on her a ton last year,” Johnson. “It’s going to be even more so. Her and Talia probably got the most shots last year. The ball’s definitely going to be in Grace’s hands a lot whether it’s her moving off the ball, her bringing the ball up, she’s going to be our go-to just about every time we get the ball. She’s going to be a big piece.”

Bensalem will be without 5-8 forward Jordyn Bell this summer, who was one of the team’s top returners alongside McShane. Johnson said the team is looking to utilize 5-10 forward Sydney Daut more inside.

Look out for a few youngsters to play big roles next season. Sophomore guard Mischa Ellzy has been handling the ball and running the offense. Rising freshman Falyn Savage, a 5-6 guard, looks like she could crack the varsity rotation right away.

“We have a bunch of people getting minutes who are not necessarily ready for,” Johnson said. “It’s important for Grace to bring everyone together, let them know it’s OK.” — Owen McCue

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